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4G heightens competition among Vietnamese operators
  • | VIR | April 04, 2016 10:14 AM
Once Vietnamese mobile network operators deploy 4G networks, they will have to compete not only in terms of downloading and uploading speed but also content services in order to gain and retain customers.


At the Vietnam-Korea LTE Vision Workshop co-held this morning by the Vietnamese Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) and the South Korean Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, Jin-Hyo Park, senior vice president, head of SK Telecom’s network R&D centre, said Vietnamese mobile network operators had to diversify their services to compete.

“If operators only strive to provide the highest speed, they cannot get customers. They have to have attractive services, too,” he said.

According to Park, on the basis of Voice over LTE (VoLTE), SK Telecom provides voice-to-video call switching, video conference and voice conference services. It also improved Internet Protocol television (IPTV) by minimising the delay and lag between image and sound transmission. Not to mention, SK Telecom also sold devices, such as T Kids phones and T Pet devices, to help users take care of their kids and their pets.


The Vietnamese government at the end of 2015 allowed three mobile network operators, namely Viettel, VNPT Vinaphone, and MobiFone, to pilot 4G services in a number of cities.

“In 2016, operators are going to finalise plans to invest in the commercial deployment of 4G. The ministry is also going to complete policies on the management of the market in order to ensure healthy competition,” said the MIC’s Deputy Minister Phan Tam.

Doan Quang Hoan, general director of the MIC’s Authority of Radio Frequency Management, said in 2016 the plan would be to auction the 2.6 GHz spectrum.

“The plan is hitting a bump because the MIC said that the policies for management of the telecommunications market, in terms of security and price of plans, are not ready. We are persuading the MIC to provide 4G LTE this year,” Hoan said.

LTE is one of the latest mobile telecom technologies. It provides end-users with mobile data over 10 times as fast as the maximum 3G speed. In other words, it allows users to download a 100 MB music video in three seconds, in optimal condition.

4G LTE is becoming more and more popular all over the world. In India, an exclusively LTE network was launched in December. In the US, Verizon plans to start selling an LTE-only device in 2016. South Korean and Japanese mobile phone subscribers can now enjoy roaming VoLTE between the two countries.

“The speed of adoption is especially fast in emerging markets,” said Kiho Cho, senior director at Samsung Electronics, which provides 4G network infrastructure and solutions to mobile network operators around the world.

Best practice from South Korea

South Korea deployed 4G LTE commercially in July 2011. About 75 per cent of total mobile network traffic was generated by voice in 2009, but only three years after LTE was launched, mobile data traffic increased up to 99 per cent of total network traffic in 2014.

By the end of 2015, the average LTE user consumed 4.3 GB a month, while a 3G user consumed only 0.7 GB. Also, 57 per cent of total data traffic comes from mobile videos.

To accelerate LTE commercial readiness and to accommodate this exponentially growing market demand, operators have built the LTE network separately from legacy networks and the government has designed frequency assignment policies in anticipation of future needs.

Yong Soo Kim, Assistant Minister of South Korea’s Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning

South Korea encourages competition in the telecommunications market. As of now, 4G is available throughout the entire country. Commercial deployment of 4G led to an explosion in data usage. Though the market is saturated, the amount of data used continues to rise. There are more LTE devices sold each day. Operators have switched their focus to data from voice and text, reacting to market tendencies.

Jin-Hyo Park, senior vice president, head of SK Telecom’s Network R&D Centre

Network operators should choose a partner that can provide a total package of solutions and can meet all their customisation requirements. SK Telecom also provides consultancy services for network operators in their deployment of LTE.
 

Doan Quang Hoan, general director of the MIC’s Authority of Radio Frequency Management

Now is the time to deploy 4G in Vietnam as 30 per cent of mobile subscribers are already using 3G. Vietnam has spectrums ready for the deployment of 4G, namely the 2.6 and 2.3 GHz, and there are circulars on the refarming of the 900 and 1800 MHz spectrums as well. 

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